Israeli professors in US universities spoke to Ynet about the shocking scenarios they have faced in recent months.

UCLA Prof. Nir Hoftman, an anesthesia specialist, said: “I am a scientist, but since the demonstrations started on campus, I have hardly touched research. I am only engaged in a war of survival for our existence as Jews in this country.”

Hoftman said that three protesters blocked his path on campus and wouldn’t let him pass. “Someone blindsided me, my earphone flew out of my ear and he ran away with it. The security guards stood by and did nothing. This is anarchy, the Wild West here. This is how we are treated, like stinking Jews that no one cares about. They just throw us in the trash.”

Hoftman added that he and his Jewish and Israeli colleagues are compiling evidence of antisemitic incidents on campus to provide testimony to Congress and then file a lawsuit against the university for failing to protect them.

“We are struggling here at the university but it takes time. People don’t understand what’s going on here. The police do nothing because they are instructed not to do anything. This is really Germany in the 1930s. Jews are simply not allowed to enter buildings. It’s unbelievable and it’s only getting worse.”

Hoftman said that he has become a target since he began protesting against antisemitism on campus and at the medical school. “It’s a terrible feeling because I’m not someone who easily gets scared and I’ve been fighting with the school from the beginning but even someone like me is starting to worry. There are a lot of crazy people around, you never know what these individuals are capable of doing.”

“I’m concerned for my home. I worry that someone might come and harm my family especially since I started being vocal and appearing in the media. I’ve become a kind of Shai Davidai of UCLA [the Israeli professor who was barred from entering Columbia University] — a symbol, and sometimes it works against me.”

Prof. Judea Pearl, a Chancellor’s Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at UCLA, [and the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, H’yd] said that the protests are allowed to continue due to the large amount of money the university receives from Qatar.

“The university thought they would let the pro-Hamas protesters vent their anger and then it would quiet down. But on Sunday, Israel supporters held counterdemonstrations and since then there have been beatings and physical and verbal clashes. The most plausible theory is that they don’t want to upset Qatar which covers tuition and provides scholarships to the campuses.”

Prof. Gil Zussman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Columbia University, said that he has been having trouble sleeping. “I spoke with Jewish students on campus and couldn’t fall asleep,” he said.

Zussman added that the protesters don’t represent the university. “We have 30,000 students and these protesters are a noisy minority that bothers everyone else. Most students are in labs or classrooms trying to study. This group does not represent the majority but it certainly disrupts my activities, research, and teaching.”

“I haven’t reached the point of giving up and leaving yet but I think the university could have managed the situation better. The administration brought in the police but they did it improperly and incompletely. They did half the work and it led to another escalation. They removed one student, but there are still many students calling to harm Jews.”

Zussman said that there have been student protests in the past but these protests are different. “It’s aimed specifically at Jews. They say specifically that they don’t want people who served in the IDF, they don’t want Zionists here on campus. This is discrimination based on religion, and it has been happening consistently for several months at the university.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)